2. INTRODUCTION
The Unification of Germany was
a patriotic process that took place in the second
half of the XIX century and finished in the
creation of the German Empire in 1871.
Prior to the formation of a unified national
state, Germany was divided in 38 states.
Among them Austria and Prusia had economic and
political importance.
3. ANTECEDENTS
Intellectual roots:
There was a Germanic world, with
its language, its civilization that had been
formulated by Fichte in 1808 in his
“Addresses to the German nation”.
Economic roots:
The first step was the creation of the
Zollverein in 1834, a customs
union that managed to combine in a large
market to dozens of states.
4. OTTO VON BISMARCK
However, the political unification was made
possible by Otto von Bismarck, the
Prussian Chancellor, combining diplomatic
skills and the use of force, Prussia
became the axis of the unifying process.
Otto von Bismarck,during his last years of
life, he was called ‘The Iron Chancellor’
because of his hard hand in the decisions of
his country.
6. STAGES OF THE UNIT
1. War of the Duchies of Southern Denmark
In 1864 Federico VII of Denmark died
without issue, Prussia and Austria declared
war on Denmark, which claimed the
duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, located
in northern Germany. The German victory
was fast.
7. STAGES OF THE UNIT
2. Austro-Prussian War
The differences between the victors were
used by Bismarck for starting a war
against Austria (1866). The victory of Prussia
(Battle of Sadowa) surprised everyone by his
speed.
9. STAGES OF THE UNIT
3. Franco-Prussian War
Finally, Bismarck went to war with France,
which he won the Battle of Sedan (1870)
to.This represented the culmination of
German unification and the start of the
second German Reich, or empire led by the
Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm I.
